Any word on The Abyss? (1 Viewer)

[Jari K]

Cameron's "Blu-ray comeback" in Comic Con. That would be great PR.

 

[Paul_Warren]

This is a great film (171 min edition that is)! Hope they announce this soon its the 25th anniversary if not now when/if ever is a good time.

I know catalog BD's are not selling well enough for Hollywood but come on the Cinemax HD version is available why not a BD version more people will & can actually buy as Cinemax HD is not available globally.

 

[andySu]

Well, as Geoff_D mentioned earlier, there is an HD transfer of The Abyss that has recently started airing on premium movie channels, so perhaps Cameron has actually signed off on a transfer and now the release is gated by TCFHE figuring out the most opportune time to release it, as FoxyMulder suggested.

Which brings me back to what I stated in the FOX MIA thread...at this point I will take an announcement of an announcement. I just want confirmation it is coming to BD.

Yeah and where is the screen captures of this so called HD aired on TV? I want to see captures.


Edit. Had to do a fast look around and came across this but not screen captures.
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/34-hdtv-programming/1525963-abyss-max-hd-2-4-ratio.html

Found something here.
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=195775&page=56

I'm in an THE ABYSS early morning mood to start up the Laserdisc and DVD theatrical for some comparing,

Some various captures here.
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/The-Abyss-Special-Edition-1989-BluRay-Project-BD-50-x2-DELETED/post/699192/

 

[cineMANIAC]

This is a great film (171 min edition that is)! Hope they announce this soon its the 25th anniversary if not now when/if ever is a good time.

I know catalog BD's are not selling well enough for Hollywood but come on the Cinemax HD version is available why not a BD version more people will & can actually buy as Cinemax HD is not available globally.

THE ABYSS isn't just any catalog title - it's a major "event" film on the same level as any of Cameron's other big hits. I considered Cameron one of the big"A-list" directors but it seems he's not - he can't even get 3 of his biggest hits (Abyss, T2 and True Lies) remastered and properly released to BD. He's not "King of the World" after all

 

[Kevin EK]

We should take Terminator 2 off that list. We had extensive discussions of the Skynet Blu-ray of that on this forum and concluded per Van Ling that the furor of it was overblown. Here is a quote of mine from that 2009 discussion:

"I have reviewed the T2 thread in Van Ling's area, and I'm satisfied that the DNR issue has been blown out of proportion, mostly by well-meaning people who have misinterpreted what they were seeing. Van Ling repeatedly states in his thread that he didn't request ANY DNR AT ALL, and that the only additional work done here was to manually remove scratches, hairs and print damage where possible.Van Ling also clarifies that the source transfer for this Blu-ray is the same one they've been using since the 2003 Extreme Edition DVD - and that this transfer has been the source of all SD and Blu-ray releases since that time. To make a new HD source transfer will require the involvement of James Cameron, who is still working on Avatar and hasn't even had the time to look over the HD transfer done for The Abyss three years ago. Van Ling also confirms that this edition was intended as a kind of "maintenance release" to coincide with the release of the latest movie.He also admits that on every release of this title, he has been criticized from all sides - too much grain, too little grain, too bright, too dark, etc. And even after he plainly discusses the process of making this Blu-ray, he still gets criticized in that thread, with people apparently trying to correct his perception of a transfer he knows better than we do! (He makes a good point about people posting screengrabs - JPEGs are not necessarily accurate representations of the real quality of the moving images they represent.)I have accordingly revised my review to include his input, so that people just looking into this discussion now may be able to see a more balanced perspective.I still think we haven't seen the last of this title yet. I'd be willing to wager that 2011 will see a 20th anniversary re-issue with a brand new source transfer approved by Cameron, but I've been wrong before..."


What we can say about the Skynet Blu-ray is that it's based on an older transfer. I don't think we can say that T2 was not properly released.

The other issue with that Blu was the menus and loading times, but I believe we're well past it now.


I do enjoy Cinemaniac's comment, but something tells me that the lack of new transfers or Blus for The Abyss and True Lies is not a matter of James Cameron being unable to get them done...

 

[FoxyMulder]

We should take Terminator 2 off that list. We had extensive discussions of the Skynet Blu-ray of that on this forum and concluded per Van Ling that the furor of it was overblown. Here is a quote of mine from that 2009 discussion:

"I have reviewed the T2 thread in Van Ling's area, and I'm satisfied that the DNR issue has been blown out of proportion, mostly by well-meaning people who have misinterpreted what they were seeing. Van Ling repeatedly states in his thread that he didn't request ANY DNR AT ALL, and that the only additional work done here was to manually remove scratches, hairs and print damage where possible.

I disagree with this, requesting no DNR and actually getting no DNR are two separate things, the way i read Van Lings comments are different to your interpretation, i think he was disappointed that they had applied some DNR, i have the HD-DVD edition, the Skynet edition does have some DNR applied to it, it is very obvious, a little smoothing applied that you do not see on the HD-DVD edition, at the end of the day they both use the same master and It doesn't matter, Van Ling himself states it's an old master and that is the whole problem, a new 4K film scan would yield much better results so no you cannot take that off the list, it needs a new updated transfer.

I don't want to get into the screencaps argument again, they are a frame from the disc, they can be used to show differences between two different version's and they are reliable, you may dispute this until the cows come home, it doesn't matter to me, i have taken plenty and they are reliable. See one below from the HD-DVD and Skynet edition of Terminator 2 and note the grain structure and look at small details around the eye and pores on the face.

Do you think detail miraculously comes back once the picture is moving again, no it doesn't, the detail on the Skynet edition is smoothed over, it doesn't matter if i take a thousand frame grabs in succession, it's missing.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/multi_comparison.php?disc1=2549&disc2=2547&cap1=23444&cap2=23431&art=full&image=11&hd_multiID=262&action=1&lossless=#vergleich

Look at the fine threaded detail on her outfit she is wearing, around the top part of the body and shoulders, note how the Skynet edition smooths out detail that the HD DVD edition retains. There is obvious DNR at play here.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/multi_comparison.php?disc1=2549&disc2=2547&cap1=23439&cap2=23426&art=full&image=6&hd_multiID=262&action=1&lossless=#vergleich

The screencaps are vital in proving DNR was applied, two things i find screencaps good for are comparisons between different versions and showing edge enhancement, these caps shoot down any nonsense about the Skynet edition, of course the Skynet doesn't have DNR applied to it, they told us so it must be true and that smooth look is part of the original photography....NOT.

Any new film scan for Terminator 2 requires Studio Canal to pay for it.

 

[YanMan]

I do enjoy Cinemaniac's comment, but something tells me that the lack of new transfers or Blus for The Abyss and True Lies is not a matter of James Cameron being unable to get them done...

Kevin,

I don't think we can definitively claim there is no new HD transfer of The Abyss. All we know is that it has not been released or announced on Bluray yet.

For example, we do know that Cinemax HD has started showing the theatrical cut in HD, and this transfer could very well be the source of the eventual BD release.

Here is a link to a post at Bluray.com with some screen caps from that showing (feel free to delete this post if HTF ownership does not like links to other forums, but I think it's worth pointing these out, as they look quite spectacular):

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=9145558&postcount=1105

 

[Kevin EK]

I appreciate YanMan's comment and agree that it's possible a new HD transfer of The Abyss has been done and approved by James Cameron. I do expect that if this is the case, we'll hear an announcement fairly soon about a Blu-ray release. If not, then I'd have to wonder if Fox asked to do an interim transfer so that they could show the movie on HD cable/satellite channels while waiting for Cameron to approve one for Blu-ray. Either way, I think we'll know by whether there is or is not any official discussion of a Blu-ray release this year.

Malcolm, on the matter of Terminator 2, I appreciate that you have your opinions about it, which you've made very clear. I don't know that I would read the same meaning you drew from Van Ling's clear remarks, and I encourage you to ask him directly if you have questions about what he intended. I agree with you that many of the complaints about the T2 HD releases stem from the 2003 transfer, but as you've seen, we have not heard anything about a new transfer being done, and it's now been five years since the last discussion. I would also add that plenty of readers on this forum commented on the Skynet release and came away with a different reaction. I also agree that this isn't the place to discuss screencaps.

 

[Jari K]

I'm sure the new remastered transfer from T2 is coming at some point. It has to!

 

[TheBat]

I'm sure the new remastered transfer from T2 is coming at some point. It has to!

I read that cameron was thinking about doing a 3d version of t2.

Jacob

 

[FoxyMulder]

I read that cameron was thinking about doing a 3d version of t2.

Jacob

Yeah i think he was interested but the money people don't want to do it, maybe they will re-think it after Avatar 2.

 

[Ric Easton]

After starting this thread over 5 years ago, I saw a whole bunch of new posts and I thought... "Could it be?" I guess not yet!

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Regarding the "Skynet Edition" of T2: The main problem I have with that disc is that I have to turn off the BD-Live option on my new Samsung player in order for it to play! Evidently the site it's trying to reach when it starts up is no longer available. So there needs to be a new release just to make the darn thing more "user friendly"! (And while they're at it they may as well give us a new HD transfer derived from the 4K remaster which everybody knows *has* to be coming.)And regarding "The Abyss" and "True Lies" possibly being released later this year, here's a link to the "Rumor Mill" story at "The Digital Bits":http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/the-rumor-mill/true-lies-abyss-2014-x-files-twin-peaks

 

[andySu]

THE ABYSS isn't just any catalog title - it's a major "event" film on the same level as any of Cameron's other big hits. I considered Cameron one of the big"A-list" directors but it seems he's not - he can't even get 3 of his biggest hits (Abyss, T2 and True Lies) remastered and properly released to BD. He's not "King of the World" after all

too much. lol


Amazing how Carolco Pictures went out of business with the gross T2 brought.
James Cameron, likes to do Spiderman, so how comes he hasn't done it with at least 3 films and 2 reboots?

Well said. AVP is messed up.




The Abyss dialouge underwater was cool.

I like watching The Abyss documentary on DVD "Under Pressure" sometimes.

 

[Kevin EK]

If I'm understanding Bill Hunt correctly, Fox made several announcements this year at Comic Con, but said nothing about The Abyss or True Lies. He's going to have an update on his site on Monday that may shed more light, but it doesn't sound like those titles will be coming out this year.

 

[Jari K]

If they clearly say "next year", I'm still happy.

 

[TravisR]

Every year I convince myself that The Abyss and True Lies will finally come out (especially this year since some of the TL cast has been talking about participating in special features) and I'm always wrong. So in an effort to get them to come out, I'm going to do the opposite- I'll just assume that they're never coming out so I'll be wrong and they will come out.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

If they clearly say "next year", I'm still happy.

I won't be happy. I feel like we've waited more than long enough for these titles. The wait would at least be somewhat mitigated if either of these movies had ever had a proper DVD release to begin with.

 

[cineMANIAC]

To heck with Fox. Same goes for James Cameron. Like anybody really wants another Avatar movie

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

To heck with Fox. Same goes for James Cameron. Like anybody really wants another Avatar movie

I most certainly do.